Search teams find missing hikers in gamelands

Jonathan Heatherly, 32, and Janice Collins, 56, had been in woods for more than 24 hours

An ambulance leaves the command post of a search-and-rescue operation on Laurel Mountain View Road in Dana, where teams spent Sunday looking for two missing hikers who didn't show return home Saturday.

Published: Sunday, September 15, 2013 at 2:57 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, September 15, 2013 at 2:57 p.m.

DANA – Two lost hikers who spent a chilly night in the rugged Green River Gamelands were located by search and rescue personnel around 6 p.m. Sunday, a day after they went missing.

A search and rescue team found Jonathan Heatherly, 32, and Janice Collins, 56, off trail in the woods near the Big Hungry area of the gamelands, said Capt. Lowell Griffin of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office.

“The persistence of all the fire and rescue personnel in the area really paid off,” Griffin said.

The pair departed on a hike from the Deep Gap area around 1 p.m. Saturday but never returned home. Family members went looking for them early Sunday morning, kicking off a search operation involving every county fire department and two state agencies.

“The report I'm getting is they are both uninjured, in good health, just very tired and hungry,” Griffin said. He said the hikers heard rescue personnel nearby, called out to them and allowed the search party to “zero in on their location,” which was off the main trail.

Family members told authorities Heatherly and Collins set out Saturday afternoon on a hike across the mountain that would typically take “a few hours,” Griffin said. When they hadn't returned by nightfall, relatives began their own search with flashlights around 1 a.m. Sunday.

The sheriff's office received a call about suspicious activity in the Deep Gap area and discovered the missing hikers' family members. Shortly thereafter, Dana Fire and Rescue dispatched ATV teams into the gamelands to look for the hikers.

Both hikers were familiar with the area they were traversing, Griffin said, especially Heatherly, who goes by “John Boy.” He is the son of Roger Heatherly of Dana and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a green T-shirt, leather work boots and a brown baseball cap with a bulldog on it.

Heatherly and Collins were last seen walking toward Chigger Ridge in the Big Hungry area, along trails that Griffin said were considered steep and moderate-to-difficult in nature. It's unknown whether the pair carried water or supplies, he said.

Heatherly sometimes walks with a limp due to surgery on his right ankle, according to a profile used by search teams. But Heatherly's uncle, Michael Jones, said his biggest concern was his nephew or his companion might have been bitten by a snake.

“You just never know,” Jones said, as he strapped on a backpack Sunday morning to join in the search.

Temperatures overnight fell into the 50s, Griffin said, so rescuers were not as concerned about hypothermia as they were that the two hikers had become dehydrated or fallen in the steep terrain and suffered “some sort of injury.”

Dana Fire and Rescue set up a command post early Sunday on Laurel Mountain View Road, joined by search teams from Edneyville and Blue Ridge Fire and Rescue. They sent out ATV teams to look for the missing hikers before dawn, said Dana Fire Chief Ben Lanning.

“There are multiple places they could have come out,” Lanning said.

By mid-morning Sunday, search teams from every county fire department and the Henderson County Rescue Squad were summoned to the area to help with the search, along with a game warden from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

A North Carolina Highway Patrol helicopter circled the area, and tracking dogs were brought in by the South Carolina Search and Rescue Dog Association.

<p>DANA – Two lost hikers who spent a chilly night in the rugged Green River Gamelands were located by search and rescue personnel around 6 p.m. Sunday, a day after they went missing.</p><p>A search and rescue team found Jonathan Heatherly, 32, and Janice Collins, 56, off trail in the woods near the Big Hungry area of the gamelands, said Capt. Lowell Griffin of the Henderson County Sheriff's Office.</p><p>“The persistence of all the fire and rescue personnel in the area really paid off,” Griffin said. </p><p>The pair departed on a hike from the Deep Gap area around 1 p.m. Saturday but never returned home. Family members went looking for them early Sunday morning, kicking off a search operation involving every county fire department and two state agencies.</p><p>“The report I'm getting is they are both uninjured, in good health, just very tired and hungry,” Griffin said. He said the hikers heard rescue personnel nearby, called out to them and allowed the search party to “zero in on their location,” which was off the main trail. </p><p>Family members told authorities Heatherly and Collins set out Saturday afternoon on a hike across the mountain that would typically take “a few hours,” Griffin said. When they hadn't returned by nightfall, relatives began their own search with flashlights around 1 a.m. Sunday.</p><p>The sheriff's office received a call about suspicious activity in the Deep Gap area and discovered the missing hikers' family members. Shortly thereafter, Dana Fire and Rescue dispatched ATV teams into the gamelands to look for the hikers.</p><p>Both hikers were familiar with the area they were traversing, Griffin said, especially Heatherly, who goes by “John Boy.” He is the son of Roger Heatherly of Dana and was last seen wearing blue jeans, a green T-shirt, leather work boots and a brown baseball cap with a bulldog on it. </p><p>Heatherly and Collins were last seen walking toward Chigger Ridge in the Big Hungry area, along trails that Griffin said were considered steep and moderate-to-difficult in nature. It's unknown whether the pair carried water or supplies, he said.</p><p>Heatherly sometimes walks with a limp due to surgery on his right ankle, according to a profile used by search teams. But Heatherly's uncle, Michael Jones, said his biggest concern was his nephew or his companion might have been bitten by a snake. </p><p>“You just never know,” Jones said, as he strapped on a backpack Sunday morning to join in the search.</p><p>Temperatures overnight fell into the 50s, Griffin said, so rescuers were not as concerned about hypothermia as they were that the two hikers had become dehydrated or fallen in the steep terrain and suffered “some sort of injury.”</p><p>Dana Fire and Rescue set up a command post early Sunday on Laurel Mountain View Road, joined by search teams from Edneyville and Blue Ridge Fire and Rescue. They sent out ATV teams to look for the missing hikers before dawn, said Dana Fire Chief Ben Lanning.</p><p>“There are multiple places they could have come out,” Lanning said.</p><p>By mid-morning Sunday, search teams from every county fire department and the Henderson County Rescue Squad were summoned to the area to help with the search, along with a game warden from the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.</p><p>A North Carolina Highway Patrol helicopter circled the area, and tracking dogs were brought in by the South Carolina Search and Rescue Dog Association.</p><p><i>Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.</i></p>